Also I have an interesting one for you. I have a 1903-A3 manufactured by Remington in September 1943. It has a S stock instead of a C stock. Could they have just been trying to use old stocks when they assembled it or which is not likely was it replaced after the war?
In 1980 in walked into a southern Illinois junk shop that had a barrel full of 1903 Springfield, 1898 Mauser and 1917 Enfeild .30-06 rifles.." YOUR CHOICE, $75"...should have bought the whole barrel!
There were actually sufficient numbers of M1 Garands to outfit the Marine Corps at the outset of WW2. The Marine Corps top brass chose to keep the accurate, proven 1903 A3. They issued the M1 to second line troops initially to see how the new rifle functioned. The Marine Corps changed its mind and decided to make the M1 the standard issue rifle but the initial Marine units had already sailed for the Pacific theatre. There were a few Marine units equipped with M1’s, notably the 2nd Marine Raiders and some engineer units. It was neither insufficient numbers nor preferential treatment of the Army that saw Marines landing on Guadalcanal with 1903 A3’s, but the intransigence of their top officers.
I have a 1903 A1 Springfield. Made in 1928 and never issued. It was purchased through Miltec who made arrangements through the Springfield National Monument to crate and remove for sale. Comes in Springfield marked and serialized Military crate. Unfired until 2022. Flawless, highly figured Eastern walnut. Like driving a new model T off the showroom floor!
Love the 1903,s . Have a few of them. One has a bull barrel,another has a Star gaged barrel.another is made up of a 1903A4 sniper set up . Has an Alaskan scope on it . Great set ups with my handloads. The star Gage is set up for 1993A1,C stock is the only thing that makes it aA1. Great shooters ! Great round ,3006.
Great stuff Chris, I learned several things I didn’t know about these rifles. Especially the 03A4; I wasn’t familiar with the optics they were issued with or how low powered & tiny they are. Makes me appreciate our modern glass even more than I already do.
The history lesson was not entirely accurate. 40 years ago I picked up my first 03 and studied them for years. Some of the things were not entirely accurate
I enjoyed your video and can find no faults except for one thing. The .577 muzzle loaded rifle-muskets were and are still incredibly accurate. The best of them all in mine and the Confederate ordnance dept, was the 2 band enfield rifle-musket with 1 in 48 twist progerssive dept, progressive twist rate. It was so mich better that the ANV actually assembled the best shots of their command and issued them those rifle-muskets and deployed them as a specially formed company and they wore a badge that allowed them to pass between units and were only answerable to their own command. They were used the same way the Marine Corp uses scout snioer teams today being both recon and snipers at the same time. As a matter of fact, they played a pivotal role in the battle of Chicmauga. The famous Union general who was shot at a distance around a mile who has berated his men in an artillery unit for ducking and he said " they cant hit an elephant at that distance" which turned out to be his final words because he and one of his subordinates were felled by a sharpshooters bullet
Talk about inflation. I see the '03 rifle is selling now for what the Garand did a few years ago! Don't forget, on April 19th, 1775 is the reason we can talk about these rifles today!!
Thank you for the info. I'm curious: Did Remington convert any A3s into A4s at the factory? I ask as I own a 1903-A3 manufactured December of '43. The forward receiver ring is marked 1903-A3. However, the bolt is the A4 type, and the scope ring mounts have the exact same patina as the rest of the metal components of the rifle. Additionally, the holes drilled to attach the scope mounts were precisely placed to not damage the identification markings on the forward receiver ring. Also, the threads for the scope mounts are pristine, as if they had never been removed before.
Once the Souix and Cheyenne closed the distance on that Cavalry Springfield trap door firing line with their Henrys & Winchesters, bought at the reservation trading posts, the age of the single shot military arm was over at the Little Big Horn.
Well done...I was researching the M1917 Enfield because I thought that the M1903 Springfield was the only service rifle the US Army and Marines used during WWI and the more I looked into the two rifles, the more intrigued and fascinated I became learning about them. Well done, presented and great lecture.
I just got out my 1903 that my uncle brought home from Vietnam . It is marked Rock island ser #3817XX. I was curious to know if it was all matching but no ser# on the bolt or anywhere else except a P stamped on the stock. Am I missing something? I can't believe that the bolts were unserealized
Chances of it being all original are slim to none. It’s probably been refurbished at least once if not twice. That’s not to say the barrel, bolt, and receiver can’t be all original.
I've seen it stated that in WWI, the Americans had the best target rifle, the Germans the best hunting rifle and the Brits the best combat rifle... Do you consider the heat-treat issue of low number rifles a non-issue? From what I've read, it didn't seem to be a problem. Many of those rifles were used by the Marines up into late '42, including the hard fighting on Guadalcanal.
If you include the M1917 Enfield (American copy of the British Enfield, chambered in 30-06) then you could say that the Americans had the best target rifle and both the Americans and the British had the best combat rifle.
All my homies slam doink on 303 brit. Scrap dem british rifles! I just bought a beautiful restoration candidate o3a3 without a cut down barrel. Bg check will clear within the week, i am so excited to own such an awesome piece of american history as a first gen american and vet. 175 in 2024.
Hey brother I have a question! I recently acquired a m1903 for around 800 bucks... the serial is in the 600,000's it's date on the barrel 6-17 however it has that C pistol grip stock you mentioned around min17... but you said the C stock only came out in 1929... also by sights / top metal portion, goes all the way to half the gun like the first 1903 but it has the C grip on it? Could you help out a little. Thanks!
"C" stocks were often times replacement items when '03s were rehabbed at arsenals. The original stock may have been in bad shape. The C stock will fit all 1903 models.
@@JasonKent-n3jThats been debunked as fudd lore. What do you think Marines carried from the Banana Wars to WWII? Not to mention new shooters firing their low number 1903's and having zero issues or stress signs.
I've always found that magazine cutoff to be baffling, just the entire thought process behind it feels like people who were way behind the times adding in a pointless feature. Anyways other than that unsolicited complaint, really nice presentation.
If you learn why the Army decided that, it actually makes sense. Remember, the U.S. Army was still in the mindset of Western security forces through forts in wild west states. So their idea of combat was outlasting Indian seiges that could go for weeks without resupply. So having an option to conserve ammunition via single shot to take an occasional shot at an Indian warrior that got too close actually makes sense.
I have NO idea what he is talking about with regards to making a "cavalry carbine" version of the 1903 post WWI. The 1903 design was, from the outset, intended to serve both as the standard rifle for the infantry and the cavalry with this "intermediate" length. Recall that the previous Krag-Jorgensen was made in a long infantry rifle and a shorter cavalry carbine and the Army wanted to have just ONE rifle for both and the 1903's intermediate length was found acceptable.
In 1920, a prototype "cavalry carbine" was developed. It never went into full scale production, however. It was an attempt by Springfield to innovate on the design in the interwar period as I stated in this video. Per Bruce Canfield's book: "'03 Springfield Service Rifle", Page 103 section: "The M1903 Experimental Cavalry Carbine". Quote: "In 1920, a prototype cavalry carbine based on the M1903 rifle was fabricated by Springfield Armory's Experimental Department. The weapon utilized a M1903 receiver and was fitted with a 20-inch barrel, correspondingly shortened stock and handguard, and a Lyman #48 receiver sight..." It then goes on to discuss the program and the couple prototype models that were produced for testing etc... This segment in my video was meant as an example of interwar innovation and continued testing and development of the 1903 pattern. I was not intending to suggest that a cavalry carbine went into full scale production and implementation. I am sorry if it was not clearly stated. Thanks for watching!
It was always my understanding a 1 straight stock a 2 C stock A3 straigh stock A4 C stocks. The Springfield 4 groove rifling. Remington 2 groove rifling. Smith and corona 4 groove rifling
The A2 variant was a barreled action designed to be mounted coaxially on a cannon for tracer spotting and training on the artillery piece. 1903 has a straight stock, a1 a NM style C stock, a2 no stock, a3 straight with scant as replacement, a4 later style C stock and scant stock.
He confuses the story of the U.S. Model 1917 rifle in his telling. Remington, Eddystone, and Winchester had been contracted by the British government during World War I to make Pattern 1914 rifles for them; that contract had finished by the time the United States government decided that 1903 production at Springfield and Rock Island would not meet the expected demand. The US government did not ever seriously consider commandeering any Pattern 1914 production for American use. The Army would have liked for Remington, Eddystone, and Winchester to make more 1903s, but the difficulty and delay in creating three brand new production lines was unacceptable. The Pattern 1914 design only required minor changes to use the .30-'06 cartridge and alter a few other minor things to create the Model 1917 rifle and the Army found that acceptable. Because much of the tooling was already in place in their factories, the three commercial makers were able to very rapidly get the M1917 into full rate production and by the war's end they had made over 2 million rifles (over twice the number of 1903 rifles) which made the substitute-standard M1917 the most common rifle in US military service during the war.
I have a Remington 1903-A3 from September 1943 and a 16” bayonet from 1943.
Also I have an interesting one for you.
I have a 1903-A3 manufactured by Remington in September 1943. It has a S stock instead of a C stock.
Could they have just been trying to use old stocks when they assembled it or which is not likely was it replaced after the war?
I fully regret not going for military surplus rifles in the past!!! I don’t have many regrets in my life but this is definitely one of them!!!!!!
In 1980 in walked into a southern Illinois junk shop that had a barrel full of 1903 Springfield, 1898 Mauser and 1917 Enfeild .30-06 rifles.." YOUR CHOICE, $75"...should have bought the whole barrel!
There were actually sufficient numbers of M1 Garands to outfit the Marine Corps at the outset of WW2. The Marine Corps top brass chose to keep the accurate, proven 1903 A3. They issued the M1 to second line troops initially to see how the new rifle functioned. The Marine Corps changed its mind and decided to make the M1 the standard issue rifle but the initial Marine units had already sailed for the Pacific theatre. There were a few Marine units equipped with M1’s, notably the 2nd Marine Raiders and some engineer units. It was neither insufficient numbers nor preferential treatment of the Army that saw Marines landing on Guadalcanal with 1903 A3’s, but the intransigence of their top officers.
I have a 1903 A1 Springfield. Made in 1928 and never issued. It was purchased through Miltec who made arrangements through the Springfield National Monument to crate and remove for sale. Comes in Springfield marked and serialized Military crate. Unfired until 2022. Flawless, highly figured Eastern walnut. Like driving a new model T off the showroom floor!
Brophy,s book ,big red book ,is greatly informative also. Deep detail on the 1903 subject.
Excellent presentation on the Springfield, Chris; thank you!!!
Love the 1903,s . Have a few of them. One has a bull barrel,another has a Star gaged barrel.another is made up of a 1903A4 sniper set up . Has an Alaskan scope on it . Great set ups with my handloads. The star Gage is set up for 1993A1,C stock is the only thing that makes it aA1. Great shooters ! Great round ,3006.
Great stuff Chris, I learned several things I didn’t know about these rifles. Especially the 03A4; I wasn’t familiar with the optics they were issued with or how low powered & tiny they are. Makes me appreciate our modern glass even more than I already do.
You still aren’t that was not entirely accurate
Amazing video Chris. Very in depth and love the historical perspective.
👍👍 Always love your posts... Very informative. Happy Easter.
Great video! Learned so much about these rifles. Thank you
the history lesson is amazing...well done! It is amazing to watch the development of technology over time.
The history lesson was not entirely accurate. 40 years ago I picked up my first 03 and studied them for years. Some of the things were not entirely accurate
I enjoyed your video and can find no faults except for one thing. The .577 muzzle loaded rifle-muskets were and are still incredibly accurate. The best of them all in mine and the Confederate ordnance dept, was the 2 band enfield rifle-musket with 1 in 48 twist progerssive dept, progressive twist rate. It was so mich better that the ANV actually assembled the best shots of their command and issued them those rifle-muskets and deployed them as a specially formed company and they wore a badge that allowed them to pass between units and were only answerable to their own command. They were used the same way the Marine Corp uses scout snioer teams today being both recon and snipers at the same time. As a matter of fact, they played a pivotal role in the battle of Chicmauga. The famous Union general who was shot at a distance around a mile who has berated his men in an artillery unit for ducking and he said " they cant hit an elephant at that distance" which turned out to be his final words because he and one of his subordinates were felled by a sharpshooters bullet
Talk about inflation. I see the '03 rifle is selling now for what the Garand did a few years ago! Don't forget, on April 19th, 1775 is the reason we can talk about these rifles today!!
Inflation both of the dollar and of the over valued interest.
Thank you for the info. I'm curious: Did Remington convert any A3s into A4s at the factory? I ask as I own a 1903-A3 manufactured December of '43. The forward receiver ring is marked 1903-A3. However, the bolt is the A4 type, and the scope ring mounts have the exact same patina as the rest of the metal components of the rifle. Additionally, the holes drilled to attach the scope mounts were precisely placed to not damage the identification markings on the forward receiver ring. Also, the threads for the scope mounts are pristine, as if they had never been removed before.
Once the Souix and Cheyenne closed the distance on that Cavalry Springfield trap door firing line with their Henrys & Winchesters, bought at the reservation trading posts, the age of the single shot military arm was over at the Little Big Horn.
Nicely done! Ian better watch out …
I still need to get myself a nice 1903A3. I don’t mind the scant/semi pistol grip stock but I’d definitely prefer a C or full pistol grip stock.
Well done...I was researching the M1917 Enfield because I thought that the M1903 Springfield was the only service rifle the US Army and Marines used during WWI and the more I looked into the two rifles, the more intrigued and fascinated I became learning about them. Well done, presented and great lecture.
The M1917 was much more Prevalent is his foot Alvin York used
@@JasonKent-n3j I don't get your meaning.
@devildogcrewchief3335 what's not to understand? It's his foot alan York used obviously. ;)
@@Mibit911 LOL..
No it’s not It was by far outnumbered by the Enfield 1917 buy a lot
No skip ads ❤❤❤❤❤
outstanding video; very informative! thanks a lot.
Great video thank you for the very detailed information
Good video but not overly accurate
Great informative video!!!!
Nice. I have an unissued Remington 03/A3 with the OG stock stamp like that.
I just got out my 1903 that my uncle brought home from Vietnam . It is marked Rock island ser #3817XX. I was curious to know if it was all matching but no ser# on the bolt or anywhere else except a P stamped on the stock. Am I missing something? I can't believe that the bolts were unserealized
Chances of it being all original are slim to none. It’s probably been refurbished at least once if not twice. That’s not to say the barrel, bolt, and receiver can’t be all original.
My local shop has 1903s and 1903A3s. I'm leaning more towards the A3. They're a bit heavy and feel solid.
I ❤ 03s
FYI: No Spitzer for the Spanish on the Spanish US war. 7mm was superior to .30-40 by virtue of size and MV, but both were round noses.
Thanks!
Springfield looks Beautiful
I've seen it stated that in WWI, the Americans had the best target rifle, the Germans the best hunting rifle and the Brits the best combat rifle...
Do you consider the heat-treat issue of low number rifles a non-issue? From what I've read, it didn't seem to be a problem. Many of those rifles were used by the Marines up into late '42, including the hard fighting on Guadalcanal.
If you include the M1917 Enfield (American copy of the British Enfield, chambered in 30-06) then you could say that the Americans had the best target rifle and both the Americans and the British had the best combat rifle.
@@devildogcrewchief3335 While an arguably better combat rifle than the '03, the Enfield doesn't quite come up to the SMLE.
@@petesheppard1709 True...
Good video. Thank you.
All my homies slam doink on 303 brit. Scrap dem british rifles! I just bought a beautiful restoration candidate o3a3 without a cut down barrel. Bg check will clear within the week, i am so excited to own such an awesome piece of american history as a first gen american and vet. 175 in 2024.
I have the A-1 and load for it, also the 1898 Kraig.
I know I spelled unerdal wrong. They were a Pittsburgh company
I have a Smith in corona A3. Released from the armory with a straight stalk. Barrel date 1943. You did failed to mention the unerdal scopes
I have a Remington O3A3 my father-inlaw used in Dday day 2 and France. it's in great condition, still hase the cleaning kit in the butt.
Ok so how do you load the a4 with a stripper clip??
Can you review a lyman 48 sight on some of these rifle sir. Ty
Hey brother I have a question! I recently acquired a m1903 for around 800 bucks... the serial is in the 600,000's it's date on the barrel 6-17 however it has that C pistol grip stock you mentioned around min17... but you said the C stock only came out in 1929... also by sights / top metal portion, goes all the way to half the gun like the first 1903 but it has the C grip on it? Could you help out a little.
Thanks!
"C" stocks were often times replacement items when '03s were rehabbed at arsenals. The original stock may have been in bad shape. The C stock will fit all 1903 models.
You want a 1903 with serial numbers starting in the millions. There was metal problems in the first allotment
800 bucks the inflation is insane in 1963 that rifle was $10 $2.50 to have it shipped B’O railroad to your house
@@JasonKent-n3jThats been debunked as fudd lore. What do you think Marines carried from the Banana Wars to WWII? Not to mention new shooters firing their low number 1903's and having zero issues or stress signs.
Wish I had at least one each of 1903 & a 1903-A3. I only have the Model of 1917
The bolt sounds smooth and positive,,you can tell this one is a precision rifle
,like raking a 1911 Kimber it just talks to you
Don't you dare compare the M1903 to junk like Kimber
I've always found that magazine cutoff to be baffling, just the entire thought process behind it feels like people who were way behind the times adding in a pointless feature. Anyways other than that unsolicited complaint, really nice presentation.
If you learn why the Army decided that, it actually makes sense. Remember, the U.S. Army was still in the mindset of Western security forces through forts in wild west states. So their idea of combat was outlasting Indian seiges that could go for weeks without resupply. So having an option to conserve ammunition via single shot to take an occasional shot at an Indian warrior that got too close actually makes sense.
I have NO idea what he is talking about with regards to making a "cavalry carbine" version of the 1903 post WWI. The 1903 design was, from the outset, intended to serve both as the standard rifle for the infantry and the cavalry with this "intermediate" length. Recall that the previous Krag-Jorgensen was made in a long infantry rifle and a shorter cavalry carbine and the Army wanted to have just ONE rifle for both and the 1903's intermediate length was found acceptable.
In 1920, a prototype "cavalry carbine" was developed. It never went into full scale production, however. It was an attempt by Springfield to innovate on the design in the interwar period as I stated in this video. Per Bruce Canfield's book: "'03 Springfield Service Rifle", Page 103 section: "The M1903 Experimental Cavalry Carbine". Quote: "In 1920, a prototype cavalry carbine based on the M1903 rifle was fabricated by Springfield Armory's Experimental Department. The weapon utilized a M1903 receiver and was fitted with a 20-inch barrel, correspondingly shortened stock and handguard, and a Lyman #48 receiver sight..." It then goes on to discuss the program and the couple prototype models that were produced for testing etc... This segment in my video was meant as an example of interwar innovation and continued testing and development of the 1903 pattern. I was not intending to suggest that a cavalry carbine went into full scale production and implementation. I am sorry if it was not clearly stated. Thanks for watching!
👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸☕️☕️💯
It was always my understanding a 1 straight stock a 2 C stock A3 straigh stock A4 C stocks. The Springfield 4 groove rifling. Remington 2 groove rifling. Smith and corona 4 groove rifling
The A2 variant was a barreled action designed to be mounted coaxially on a cannon for tracer spotting and training on the artillery piece. 1903 has a straight stock, a1 a NM style C stock, a2 no stock, a3 straight with scant as replacement, a4 later style C stock and scant stock.
He confuses the story of the U.S. Model 1917 rifle in his telling. Remington, Eddystone, and Winchester had been contracted by the British government during World War I to make Pattern 1914 rifles for them; that contract had finished by the time the United States government decided that 1903 production at Springfield and Rock Island would not meet the expected demand. The US government did not ever seriously consider commandeering any Pattern 1914 production for American use. The Army would have liked for Remington, Eddystone, and Winchester to make more 1903s, but the difficulty and delay in creating three brand new production lines was unacceptable. The Pattern 1914 design only required minor changes to use the .30-'06 cartridge and alter a few other minor things to create the Model 1917 rifle and the Army found that acceptable. Because much of the tooling was already in place in their factories, the three commercial makers were able to very rapidly get the M1917 into full rate production and by the war's end they had made over 2 million rifles (over twice the number of 1903 rifles) which made the substitute-standard M1917 the most common rifle in US military service during the war.
If you buy a 1903 they have weak firing pins pick up an extra
Great job and video.
Wonderful video! Thanks for the information